By Mike Still
The Dalhousie Tigers men’s track and field team had an exceptional year in 2017, placing 11th at the U SPORTS track and field championships in Edmonton. The men also took first at the AUS championships for the 36th time in Tigers history.
Among the many standout Tigers this past season was graduating star Jordan Bruce.
The field athlete set a new AUS record in the long jump at the conference finals, winning the event. At the same meet, he also took the triple jump title, and was named the field athlete of the year for his accomplishments. At nationals, he placed fourth in the triple jump and ninth in the long jump, ending his career as a Tiger on a high note.
The team’s male throwers were successful over the course of their season, with both team captain David Kerr and Adam Karakolis competing at the national championships in the weight throw, and Karakolis also taking part in the shotput event.
Despite a lack of facilities capable of allowing them to train for their events, both athletes attained personal best distances in the weight throw at this year’s AUS championships, with Karakolis taking first in the event, followed by Kerr in second. At the U SPORTS championships, Kerr placed 10th in the weight throw, and Karakolis took eighth in both the shot put and the weight throw.
Haligonian Matthew Coolen continued his conference dominance in the hurdles, breaking his own record in the 60m and winning the event at AUS championships. At the U SPORTS championships, he came in fifth in the preliminary round of the 60m hurdles, but did not start the final race.
Dalhousie’s high jumpers packed a strong punch over the course of the season, taking the top three spots at AUS championships. Devin Errington, Dennie d’Entremont and Kaelan Schmidt placed first, second and third respectively in the event at the conference finals, with Errington going on to compete at nationals, where he took fifth with a jump of 2.01m.
The men’s sprint relay teams – both anchored by Mike Van Der Poel – won and set conference records in the 4x200m and 4x400m races at the AUS championships. The men’s 4x800m team also took the title at the conference championships. The 4x200m team went on to compete at nationals, where they placed ninth.
Van Der Poel had a successful season on his own as well, taking bronze at the U SPORTS championships in the 300m sprint event after winning and setting a new AUS record in the distance at the conference finals.
In the 1000m event at AUS championships, it was another podium sweep for the Tigers, with Will Russell, Jake Wing and Dan Gorman leading the way. The trio also competed in the 1500m race at the meet, where Gorman took second, followed by Russell and Wing in third and fourth.
At nationals, Russell placed fifth in the 1000m distance, and Gorman took part in the 1500m event, where he came sixth.
The team loses a significant number of strong contributors after this season to graduation. Head coach Rich Lehman will be looking to his younger athletes to step up in the coming years, and continues to encourage local track talent to stay in Halifax.